Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story

By Jeffrey Kluger

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF FALL 2025

From the bestselling author of Apollo 13 comes the thrilling untold story of the pioneering Gemini program that was instrumental in getting Americans on the moon.

Without Gemini, there would be no Apollo.

After we first launched Americans into space but before we touched down on the moon's surface, there was the Gemini program. It was no easy jump from manned missions in low-Earth orbit to a successful moon landing, and the ten-flight, twenty-month celestial story of the Gemini program is an extraordinary one. There was unavoidable darkness in the program--the deaths and near-deaths that defined it, and the blood feud with the Soviet Union that animated it.

But there were undeniable and previously inconceivable successes. With a war raging in Vietnam and lawmakers calling for cuts to NASA's budget, the success of the Gemini program--or the space program in general--was never guaranteed. Yet against all odds, the remarkable scientists and astronauts behind the project persevered, and their efforts paid off. Later, with the knowledge gained from the Gemini flights, NASA would launch the legendary Apollo program.

Told with Jeffrey Kluger's signature cinematic storytelling and in-depth research and interviews, Gemini is an edge-of-your-seat narrative chronicling the history of the least appreciated--and most groundbreaking--space program in American history. Finally, Gemini's story will be told, and finally, we'll learn the truth of how we landed on the moon.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250323002
• ISBN13: 9781250323002
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Filling in the gaps

An unforgettable time in history captured in both the technical and human aspects of early space travel by one who knows from the inside out. I found it to be eminently readable by one who is neither astronaut nor engineer of any stripe. A good read and comfortably absorbed. Lots of witty parts, too. I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Pub Date Nov 11, 2025 #GeminiBook by @jeffkluger #SteppingStonetotheMoon #untoldstory @stmartinspress #astronauts #usspaceprogram #nonfiction